MUM 6____
ADVANCED LEGAL ISSUES FOR THE MUSICIAN
Spring Semester 2008
Wed. 7:10 – 10:00 pm
Three Credits
AL Room 247
Instructor: Dr. Ira Abrams (561) 362-5212
E-mail: iraabrams55@gmail.com
Required Texts: “The Future of the Music Business: How to Succeed With the New
Digital Technologies” (2005) by Steve Gordon (Backbeat Books, San Francisco); “All
You Need To Know About The Music Business” (6th edition, 2006) by Donald S.
Passman (Simon & Schuster, New York); “Moser on Music Copyright” (2006) by
David Moser (Thomson Course Technology PTR/ ArtistPro Publishing, Boston, MA);
“The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution” (2005) by David
Kusek and Gerd Leonhard (Berklee Press, Boston, MA); “This Business of Songwriting:
A Practical Guide to Doing Business as a Songwriter” (2006) by Jason Blume
(Billboard Books, New York); MySpace For Musicians (2007) by Frances Vincent
(Thomson Course Technology).
Reference sources: See attached Bibliography and List of Useful Websites.
Course Description and Objectives: This course will present an in-depth study of the
legal aspects of the music business, with an emphasis on recording contracts and music
publishing issues, especially as they are affected by internet download distribution,
MySpace and other “Social Networking” websites, portable telecom devices, the shift from
computer-resident databases to Web-based, and other technological innovations. This
course will also cover the effect of media consolidation on the music business, the legal
and business aspects of music licensing, copyright essentials, important court cases
involving the music industry, how royalties are calculated, performing rights, artist
management and agency contracts, modern music marketing and promotion, how Digital
Music Aggregators and Retailers (DMAs and DMRs) operate, how to make and present a
great demo, music video and film issues, live performance contracts, touring and
merchandising issues. Emphasis will be placed on practical real-world experiences.
All students will be required to do on-line research, have an accessible e-mail address and
submit papers via e-mail (in MS Word format) in addition to “hard” copies.
Please make sure to silence all cell phones and other beeping devices during class. I need
your undivided attention.
Attendance Policy: Attendance is mandatory. Any student with more than three
unexcused absences must withdraw from the course. Attendance will be factored into your
grade. Each unexcused absence over one will result in lowering your grade by one-half a
letter grade (that is, B to B-, B- to C+, etc.). Attendance and good note-taking are
important because the lectures will go well beyond the text material.
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Students Will Strictly Comply With High Academic Integrity Standards: Plagiarism
and other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. I am a voracious reader and
will probably know if you have copied from another source without giving the author
credit. Papers submitted must show proper attribution to authors whose works are used.
Grading and Evaluation: Class participation will be an important component of your
final grade. Students are expected to prepare for every class; but in addition, groups of
students may be called upon to lead some individual class sessions on a rotating basis.
Written assignments are due at the beginning of the class on the due date. After that time,
they are considered late and points will be subtracted. Unless specific arrangements have
been made in advance, late assignments will not be accepted after 10:00 p.m. on the due
date. Missed exams will not be made up unless arrangements have been made in advance.
30% of the student’s grade will be attributed to class participation, 20 % to mid-term exam
grade, 30% to class papers and 20% to final exam grade.
95-100=A
90-94=A87-89=B+
84-86=B
80-83=B77-79=C+
74-76=C
70-73=C-
67-69=D+
64-66=D
60-63=Dbelow 60=F
Special Requirements for MSMBA Graduate Students: Each MSMBA student will
give an oral presentation, containing substantial information, concerning a music law or
music business issue that the MSMBA student shall designate and research after Dr.
Abrams has been consulted and approves the particular subject of the presentation. Each
presentation will run 15 minutes. At the conclusion, the presenter will be prepared to
answer questions concerning the subject of the talk. The presenter may use notes but may
not read the presentation. The presenter must use visual aids such as Powerpoint, handouts
or charts, etc. The date for the presentations will be Wednesday March 19, 2008. Each
MSMBA student will prepare a research paper that complies with APA stylistic standards
and will deliver a hard copy, as well as an e-mailed copy, to me on or before the date and
time of the presentation.
Class Schedule:
Wed. Jan 9
Introduction to course & overview of intellectual property &
music licensing;
Discussion and assignment of class papers:
Mid-term paper (due from all students Wednesday, February
27, 2008): How has the electronic (digital) delivery of music via
the internet and satellite transmission changed the economics of
the music industry? In addition to P2P (peer-to-peer) electronic
delivery of music, discuss the effect of the following on the
traditional “brick and mortar” music industry: internet radio,
satellite radio (XM, Sirius), podcasting, MP3, the iPod, iPhone
and similar wireless and tethered playback/receiving devices,
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iTunes and other digital music services, MySpace.com,
Facebook, YouTube, Last.fm, telephone ringtones/mastertones,
and the electronic game industry. What are the best business
models for the electronic distribution of music? How can the
respective needs of the public, recording artists, songwriters,
record companies and music publishers all be met? Is copyright
(and especially the concept of Fair Use) obsolete or can it be
adapted to fit the new technology? Connect each of these
questions to the subject.
In connection with the above paper, students should read Steve
Gordon’s book “The Future of the Music Business” and Kusek
and Leonhard’s book “The Future of Music” described on the
first page of this Syllabus. Additionally, see the Useful Websites
list accompanying this Syllabus.
Second class paper (due Tuesday, April 23, 2008): Choose your
own music industry subject to write about, but your subject
must first be discussed with and approved by me. In the absence
of your choosing your own approved topic, the default is that
you will write a paper on the following subject:
Form and launch your own online record label (on paper). What
contracts will need to be in place? Describe what steps you’ll
need to go through, from formation of the entity to signing the
label’s artists and promoting, marketing and distributing your
artists’ records. For purposes of this paper, assume that you
have a budget of $250,000 at your disposal.
Wed. Jan 16
Introduction to the course. A short history of copyright & major
copyright issues.
Some relevant court cases: A&M Records, et al vs. Napster and
the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium
CopyrightAct; MGM vs. Grokster; How is Napster different from
Grokster? RIAA vs. Limewire; Universal vs. Sony; Universal
vs.Reimerdes/Corley; Eldred vs. Ashcroft; Felton; Verizon cases
(and others to be assigned).
Wed. Jan 23
The Impact of the Internet, BitTorrent, YouTube, Facebook,
MySpace and Tivo on copyright; the effect of hyper-convergence of
corporate media ownership on what we hear, read and view.
Digital Sampling. Discussion of important sampling cases, including
Grand Upright Music Ltd. V. Warner Bros. Records,
Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films (6th Cir. 2004).
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Wed. Jan 30
Music Publishing overview
Sources of Music Publishing Income
Wed. Feb 6
Public performance rights
Mechanical & Compulsory licenses
Wed. Feb 13
Songwriters’ agreements
Wed. Feb 20
Co-publishing & Administration agreements; Foreign subpublishing agreements
Wed. Feb 27
First class paper due; Mid-Term Exam (open book)
Wed. Mar 5
Spring Break (No class)
Wed. Mar 12
Personal management and agency agreements; Live performance
Contracts and riders
Wed. Mar 19
MSMBA presentations
Organizing artist entities/group issues; Internal band members’
agreements
Wed. Mar 26
How to make a great demo & approach labels
Wed. Apr. 2
Anatomy of a major label record company;
Recording agreements; Online record companies:
DMAs and DMRs.
Wed. Apr 9
Recording agreements (Continued). The effect of the
Internet on Artist Recording Agreements; So-called 360 (Equity)
Deals. New alternative types of record and media deals. Calculating
royalties.
Wed. Apr 16
Record producer agreements. Soundtracks. Music Video issues;
Wed. Apr 23
Touring & merchandising. Traditional and non-traditional (internetbased) Music marketing & promotion; How MySpace works; Case
studies: Madonna & REM; Global marketing.
Take home final exam
Fri
Final Exam papers due. Hard copies will be delivered to 52 AH
Room 111 (my box in Prof. Michael Zager’s office) prior to 5 pm.
In addition, copies will be e-mailed to me before 5 pm.
Apr 25
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As noted above, the mid-term exam will be “open book,” and the final exam will be a
“take-home” exam. You may bring your class notes, class texts and other study
materials to class for the mid-term exam.
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